The project of Wes Eisold, Cold Cave's collage of darkwave and synth pop ranges from desperate to hopeful, from harsh to romantic -- often within the course of a single song. Eisold presented this contrast of light and dark most rawly on Cold Cave's early singles and 2009's full-length debut Love Comes Close, which paired his commanding baritone with gritty electronics on emotive songs that put the project at the forefront of the early 21st century's darkwave revival. On 2011's Cherish the Light Years, Cold Cave went big, transforming their lo-fi intimacy into maximalist anthems, but as their music evolved, their D.I.Y. individuality remained. As they released singles (many of which were collected on 2014's Full Cold Moon) and EPs including 2018's You & Me & Infinity and 2021's Fate in Seven Lessons EP, their commitment to brooding, danceable, heartfelt music was as strong as ever.

Eisold, the former singer of hardcore bands Some Girls and Give Up the Ghost and also of the more electronically inclined XO Skeletons and Ye Olde Maids, founded Cold Cave in 2007. Born without his left hand and thus physically unable to play guitar, he delved deeper into electronic music and experimented with vintage synths and effects pedals. A collection of demos, Coma Potion, arrived in 2008 on his own publisher/label Heartworm Press as a limited edition of 100 copies. Later that year, Eisold issued a pair of EPs, The Trees Grew Emotions and Died on Dais and Painted Nails on Hospital. Cold Cave was even more prolific in 2009, with the singles Etsel & Ruby, The Laurels, and Death Comes Close, the limited-edition cassettes Electronic Dreams and Stars Explode, and the compilation Cremations appearing before the November release of the project's official debut album, Love Comes Close, on Matador Records. Featuring Hatebreed's Sean Martin on guitar and bass on several tracks, the record was hailed for its raw, passionate take on darkwave and synth pop. Cold Cave also played that year's No Fun Festival with a lineup that included former Xiu Xiu member Caralee McElroy, Prurient's Dominick Fernow, and Heartworm Press co-manager Max G. Morton.

The following year, Cold Cave issued the Life Magazine Remixes EP and the limited-edition cassette New Morale Leadership. For April 2011's more expansive and polished Cherish the Light Years, Eisold collaborated with Fernow once again as well as keyboardist/vocalist Jennifer Clavin, Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner, and former Chavez member Matt Sweeney on bass. That July, Cold Cave remixed Belle and Sebastian's "I Didn't See It Coming" for their single Come On Sister. After leaving Matador, Eisold took a more D.I.Y. approach to making and distributing his music. He released a series of Cold Cave singles and EPs via Heartworm and Deathwish Inc., starting with October 2012's "A Little Death to Laugh." That year, vocalist, photographer, and designer Amy Lee joined the project. In 2013, the singles "Oceans with No End," "God Made the World," "Black Boots," and the digital-only "Nausea, the Earth and Me" completed the series, which Heartworm collected on 2014's Full Cold Moon. Cold Cave also toured with Nine Inch Nails that year and remixed their song "Running" for the Seed Eight EP. Eisold and company then collaborated with Genesis P-Orridge and Black Rain on Rebellion Is Over, a limited-edition cassette sold at the artists' July 2015 concert in Brooklyn.

During the late 2010s, Cold Cave continued to release a steady stream of singles and tour with like-minded artists. In 2016, they issued February's "Nothing Is True But You" and August's "The Idea of Love" before hitting the road with TR/ST. The next September saw the release of "Glory" prior to a gig opening for the Jesus Mary Chain's European tour, while 2018 brought the April EP You & Me & Infinity and dates with Choir Boy and Black Marble. Early in 2019, Eisold and Lee celebrated the tenth anniversary of Love Comes Close's release with a pair of sold-out shows at Hollywood Forever Cemetery and released the single "Promised Land." That track and April 2021's "Night Light" provided the first glimpses of the Fate in Seven Lessons EP, which appeared that June. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi